keep losing online connection to internet

I have a friend who has only recently bought a PC, They are finding problems with their online connection, they say that thay can connect, but after a short period it disconnects itself. I think they are on a normal modem line through their telephone socket and that they are using Tiscali(I think) and that they are using XP as an OS if that is any help to go by. Will appreciate any solutions to the problem.Simac

Call waiting and possibly call minder can interfere with the connection. Check this by dialling 1471 next time the connection drops and see if the last incoming call time corresponds to the time of the dropped connection.

I used to get this sometimes with BTOpenworld.If no user activity is detected then the connection was dropped after 10 minutes. An immediate re connection was offered, apparently this was to prevent misuse of the service. Even taking too long to type in an answer to a thread would make it happen.

Some modems have known issues with hyper-threading technology used in XP. Update drivers. How short a period before the call is dropped? When I had driver problems, the calls lasted less than 10 seconds.

Does this happen straight away? If that is the case then your friend could have the blaster virus.click here Or does this happen after opening Outlook Express to check thier e-mails? If so click on Tools menu>Internet options>connections tab and de-select HANG UP AFTER SENDING AND RECIEVING....TT